Career and Education Opportunities for Coroners in Houston, Texas

Coroners can find many career and educational opportunities in the Houston, Texas area. The national trend for coroners sees this job pool growing by about 31.1% over the next eight years. Coroners generally direct activities such as autopsies, pathological and toxicological analyses, and inquests relating to the investigation of deaths occurring within a legal jurisdiction to determine cause of death or to fix responsibility for accidental, violent, or unexplained deaths.

A person working as a coroner can expect to earn about $24 hourly or $50,740 yearly on average in Texas and about $23 per hour or $48,890 yearly on average in the U.S. as a whole. Incomes for coroners are not quite as good as in the overall category of Adjustment and Analysis in Texas, and not quite as good as the overall Adjustment and Analysis category nationally. Coroners work in a variety of jobs, including: deputy coroner, medical examiner, and forensic pathologist.

The Houston area is home to eighty-one schools of higher education, including three within twenty-five miles of Houston where you can get a degree as a coroner. The most common level of education for coroners is post-Doctoral training. You can expect to spend at least four or five years studying to be a coroner if you already have a Bachelor's degree, or at least eight to ten years starting with a high school diploma.

CAREER DESCRIPTION: Coroner

Coroner video from the State of New Jersey Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development

In general, coroners direct activities such as autopsies, pathological and toxicological analyses, and inquests relating to the investigation of deaths occurring within a legal jurisdiction to determine cause of death or to fix responsibility for accidental, violent, or unexplained deaths.

Coroners inquire into the causes and circumstances of human deaths and establish the identities of deceased persons. They also inventory personal effects recovered from bodies. Equally important, coroners have to talk with officials of public health and law enforcement agencies to direct interdepartmental efforts. They are often called upon to observe and record the positions and conditions of bodies and related evidence. They are expected to collect and document any pertinent medical history data. Finally, coroners locate and document data regarding the next of kin, including their relationship to the deceased and the status of notification attempts.

Every day, coroners are expected to be able to listen to and understand others in meetings. They need to piece together evidence to, in some sense, diagnose what is going on in a situation. It is also important that they articulate ideas and problems.

It is important for coroners to witness and certify deaths that are the result of a judicial order. They are often called upon to manage the next of kin to be notified of deaths. They also perform medicolegal examinations and autopsies, conducting preliminary examinations of bodies to identify victims, locate signs of trauma, and identify factors that would indicate time of death. They are sometimes expected to complete death certificates, including the assignment of cause and manner of death. Somewhat less frequently, coroners are also expected to collect wills and other documentation needed for investigations and for handling of the remains.

and testify at inquests and court trials. And finally, they sometimes have to collect wills and other documentation needed for investigations and for handling of the remains.

Like many other jobs, coroners must have exceptional integrity and be thorough and dependable.

Similar jobs with educational opportunities in Houston include:

Business Management Analyst. Conduct organizational studies and evaluations, design systems and procedures, conduct work simplifications and measurement studies, and prepare operations and procedures manuals to assist management in operating more efficiently and effectively. Includes program analysts and management consultants.

Cost Analyst. Prepare cost estimates for product manufacturing, construction projects, or services to aid management in bidding on or determining price of product or service. May specialize according to particular service performed or type of product manufactured.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES: Coroner Training

University of Houston - Houston, TX

University of Houston, 212 E. Cullen Building, Houston, TX 77204-2018. University of Houston is a large university located in Houston, Texas. It is a public school with primarily 4-year or above programs. It has 36,080 students and an admission rate of 79%. University of Houston has a master's degree program in Public Administration which graduated three students in 2008.

San Jacinto Community College - Pasadena, TX

San Jacinto Community College, 8060 Spencer Hwy, Pasadena, TX 77501-2007. San Jacinto Community College is a large college located in Pasadena, Texas. It is a public school with primarily 2-year programs and has 24,677 students. San Jacinto Community College has an associate's degree program in Public Administration which graduated one student in 2008.

Texas Southern University - Houston, TX

Texas Southern University, 3100 Cleburne St, Houston, TX 77004. Texas Southern University is a medium sized university located in Houston, Texas. It is a public school with primarily 4-year or above programs. It has 8,062 students and an admission rate of 99%. Texas Southern University has a bachelor's degree and a master's degree program in Public Administration which graduated two and eighteen students respectively in 2008.

LOCATION INFORMATION: Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas photo by Hequals2henry

Houston is located in Harris County, Texas. It has a population of over 2,242,193, which has grown by 14.8% in the past ten years. The cost of living index in Houston, 89, is well below the national average. New single-family homes in Houston are valued at $173,500 on average, which is near the state average. In 2008, 3,684 new homes were constructed in Houston, down from 6,035 the previous year.

The top three industries for women in Houston are health care, educational services, and accommodation and food services. For men, it is construction, professional, scientific, and technical services, and administrative and support and waste management services. The average commute to work is about 27 minutes. More than 27.0% of Houston residents have a bachelor's degree, which is higher than the state average. The percentage of residents with a graduate degree, 9.7%, is higher than the state average.

The unemployment rate in Houston is 8.0%, which is less than Texas's average of 8.1%.

The percentage of Houston residents that are affiliated with a religious congregation, 50.4%, is more than the national average but less than the state average. El Buen Pastor United Methodist Church, 34th Temple Church of God in Christ and Pentecostal Church of God in Christ are some of the churches located in Houston. The largest religious groups are the Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church.

Houston is home to the Champion Rod and Gun Club and the Independence Heights Residential Historic District as well as Hermann Park and Hennessey Park. Shopping centers in the area include Windsor Plaza Shopping Center, Meyerland Plaza Shopping Center and Meyerland Shopping Center. Visitors to Houston can choose from Capital Inn, Bradford Homesuites - Houston Galleria and Best Western Fountainview Inn and Suites for temporary stays in the area.